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1/07/2010

7 concepts that can make you a better trader

New traders spend lot of time on indicators, scans, or chart pattern. Lot of that effort is wasted. Instead they should focus on core concepts.

If you understand core concepts you will find understanding the market and techniques used by traders easier. All the indicators and techniques are based on some underlying core concept. Many times the people who promote some of these indicators do not understand the core concept or purposefully package their indicators as something that is anti thesis of a core concept.

For example in recent month many people have been enamored by a particular "mean reversion" strategy promoted by a trader through his book and site and it involves 2 period RSI. I get lot of emails asking how to scan for it in Telechart.

Now this particular person who promotes it makes all kinds of claims like trend following does not work. Or buying strength does not work. He might be right on a particular time frame or a particular time period tested or a particular instrument tested or a particular set up he tested.

But based on that for marketing purpose the person may be making a claim that buying strength does not work. But that is skillful marketing, not a real market understanding. And sometime market will trend for a extended period of time without mean reversion. Which is what it has done in recent months.

Mean reversion kind of systems have had poor performance as per most followers of mean reversion in recent periods. As always is the case the book came out just when mean reversion had become most popular strategy. That is the nature of the market.

Now if you do not understand a core concept like trends or momentum you would accept assertions like only mean reversion works.

But at the heart of the 2rsi is one small trend or momentum filter, it only buys weakness on ETF or Index which is above 200 day MA. So what really is the core concept behind the system. Is it mean reversion or trend following. What the system does is enters a trending market on a minor weakness. The 2RSI entry is meaningless if there is no trend. And by definition there cannot be a mean reversion if there is no trend.

A trend has to be in existent before mean reversion can kick in.

If you understand that logic you can design lot more and better systems by defining a trend and then entering on weakness in trend. Absent that you will believe that there is some holy grail in 2rsi.

Lot of the art in marketing such systems depends on your ability to camouflage a hind leg of a donkey as a thoroughbred horse.

If you are serious about your trading there are some concepts you must know in significant details. Those concepts will help you build a strong foundation on which you can build a trading system. There are seven concepts you should study:

Momentum : If you understand this you will understand trends and mean reversion. You will understand why and how momentum works in the market. Most indicators are momentum based. Trend following and buying strength also works, so does mean reversion. They are all part of the momentum phenomenon.

Market Breadth: Stock markets are composite markets. The overall move in market is an aggregate of moves of several hundred or several thousand stocks. So the level of participation in a move is important.

Equity Selection: Because the overall market is a composite of many individual moves, it becomes critical to select right kind of stocks from the universe of stocks. Hence equity selection is extremely critical. You should know various ways in which one can select equities.

Market Anomalies: Market anomalies are the distortions in the market. If you base your trading on a proven and statistically significant anomaly, you will be profitable. Absent that no amount of indicators will help you. A through understanding of anomalies will give you an edge.

Market Microstructure: Market Microstructure is a branch of finance concerned with the details of how exchange occurs in markets. Understanding this will tell you how the market operates. The concept of market microstructre is very critical if you are trading very small time frames or are a day trader. Because to be successful on those time frame you need to find exploitable anomalies in market microstructure. You need to understand role played by market makers, automated programs, arbitragers, large fund buyers and so on. Their tactics and behaviour creates certain patterns

Growth investing : Growth investors buy stocks of companies growing faster than the average company in the market.

Value investing : Value investors buy stocks of companies which are cheap or out of favor.

These are the core concepts around which all trading strategies revolve.

Once you understand these core concepts then your next line of study is about trading tactics. Tactics are methods to implement some of these core concepts. Unfortunately most traders start at tactical end. Many blow up their account before they even can understand core concept.

If you want to become a surgeon would you start your study with what scalpel to use or with study of anatomy and physiology.

If your understanding of core concepts is weak or non existent no amount of scans or software's or indicators or trading psychology or multiple monitors or trading chat rooms or advisory services will help you become a successful trader.

If you want to be a profitable trader build a strong conceptual foundation first.

Are you serious about your trading?

If you are serious about your trading and want to build an enduring edge theStockbee Member site might help you. Members tell me they have tried lot of things before coming to my site and it has offered them the most extensive and detailed methods to swing and position trade.

It is only for those who want to develop their own self sufficient trading method. It is not a stock picking service. It is service for you to build your own scans and trading method to have your own daily pick based on your method.

Be warned it will take you time to learn to trade. Learning to trade is difficult art and unless you are willing to spend months or years to perfect your strategy and also develop your mental edge you are unlikely to succeed in this game. Unless you understand that no site, no service, and no mentoring is going to work.

Why traders come to stockbee?

The member site is one of the most recommended site for learning to trade by other traders and bloggers. You will see no advertising, no hard marketing, no promotions, no free offers, no affiliate marketing, no incentive to other bloggers to promote the site, no constant twits self promoting the site, no free trial and no tall claims of making you instantly wealthy, and yet the site attracts new members everyday. Members come from all walks of life and all kinds of trading size and trading styles.

You will see that many trading bloggers have been using my market timing methods, scans , stock ranking lists and chart templates. They have developed their own methods based on my methods. Many paid newsletter site recommend my site to their subscriber for learning about trading and market.

Over the years thousands of traders have been members and those who benefited from the learning talk about the site to others or talk about the methods used and that is how new members learn about the site.

What will I learn in the members site?

The members site will give you in depth understanding to develop your own trading method. The emphasis is on making you self sufficient and confident of your own trading method and style.

As a member you will learn the basics of swing trading, momentum investing, growth investing and risk management.

You will learn about Stockbee Trend Intensity Breakouts method that uses momentum based swing trading to find 3 to 5 day swing trades for 8 to 40% profit.

You will learn about Stockbee Episodic Pivots Breakout method which uses Post Earnings Announcement Drift (PEAD) to find stocks that had a game changing earnings and that are likely to rally for 3 months to 12 months.

You will learn about Stockbee Dollar Breakout method that uses momentum, range expansion and swing trading approach to find 5 to 40 dollar moves in high priced stocks.

You will learn about Stockbee Lemonade Strategy for 401k which uses market timing and momentum to invest in 401k. You will get weekly update on how I am using the strategy on our 401k to do allocation decision.

You will learn about Stockbee Market Monitor method for market timing using breadth. It allows you to avoid risky periods in market and allows you to identify market turns. It is used for 401k allocation decisions.

You will learn about Stockbee Double Trouble method to find stock with confirmed upside momentum using anchored momentum and that are likely to continue their up move.

You will learn about Stockbee Night Time is Right Time method to find news catalyst based trade ideas for short term day trade and swing trade.

You will learn about Investor's Business Daily’s IBD 200 list and how it can be used to find swing trading candidates for explosive moves.

You will learn about Telechart 2000 and how to use it effectively to scan for swing and position trade ideas and to set up your 401k strategy.

You will learn about Jesse Livermore Range Breakout, Darvas Box setup, and many other member shared methods.

You will learn how to set up your own scans, select right kind of stocks, how to set up stops, when to enter , when to exit, how much to risk, how to track your trades and all other details about trading. You will learn about developing your own methods and not relying on others for trade ideas.

The site has hundreds of videos and trading methods and variation of methods. Members help each other in developing the methods and share actively their research and finding. A collaborative spirit allows you to get input from others on your trading ideas or problems.

The site gives you opportunity to interact with some of the most successful traders and learn from them about their trading methods. It is a vibrant community with members from different background and experience willing to help each other. The emphasis is on continuous learning and up gradation of market knowledge and setup knowledge. The members range from hedge fund employees, financial advisers, active swing traders, investors and new traders.

If you are looking to develop your own trading strategy the membership site might be for you. You have to be willing to put in the effort to build your own method. There are no silver bullets offered on members site. Every method, every scan, every nuance is detailed and all possible help is offered to design your own method.

Do you have a trial?

If you are just looking for trial you are better off trying thousands of other trading sites that offer free trial or one month trial and offer you promise of riches.

It is for those who are ready beyond the trial phase and ready to put serious months or years of efforts to learn to trade on their own. It is for those who want to learn to find their own fish.

The free blog has all the details about the methods I trade and if you go through the posts highlighted in the sidebar you will learn about them.

How can I become a member?

To sign up go to www.stockbee.biz and follow the sign up process. The site uses Paypal for payment processing.

Best site to learn to trade

If you are serious about your trading and want to build an enduring edge theStockbee Member site might help you.

Members tell me they have tried lot of things before coming to my site and it has offered them the most extensive and detailed methods to swing and position trade. Members range from very experienced traders to novices.

No advertising, no hard marketing, no promotions, no free offers, no affiliate marketing, no incentive to other bloggers to promote the site, no constant twits self promoting the site and no tall claims, every member comes through word of mouth recommendations from existing members.

As a member you will learn the basics of swing trading, momentum investing, growth investing and risk management.

You will learn how to setup your own scans, how to select right kind of stocks, how to setup stops, when to enter , when to exit, how much to risk, how to track your trades and all other details about trading.

You will learn about developing your own methods and not relying on others for trade ideas. Develop your own edge. Once you develop your own method you will have life long profitable method.The site gives you opportunity to interact with some of the most successful traders and learn from them about their trading methods. It is a vibrant community with members from different background and experience willing to help each other. Members have shared their methods, scans, software, backtests and market insights.

Everyday the emphasis is on continuous learning and up gradation of market knowledge and setup knowledge. The members range from hedge fund employees, financial advisers, active swing traders, investors and new traders.You will see that many trading bloggers have been using my market timing methods and scans and chart templates. They have developed their own methods based on my methods.

Almost every member comes through a recommendation of some of the leading trading bloggers and trading sites. 80% or more members continue to be members for more than 3 years. Most tell me that they stay on because everyday they learn so much from the members site.If you are looking to develop your own trading strategy the membership site might be for you. You have to be willing to put in the effort to build your own method. There are no silver bullets offered on members site. Every method, every scan, every nuance is detailed and all possible help is offered to design your own method.

Every trade I take is documented with position sizing so that you can learn how in real time these strategies are implemented. Several other members also share their trades. If you are just looking for stock picks, the members site is not for you. It is about learning to find your own fish.

If you are serious about your trading and want to build an enduring edge theStockbee Member site might help you.